I never really had a good opinion of Warwickshire Police after they refused to investigate the Aston Martin driver who tried to run me off my bike. But this takes the biscuit...
A cycle path was built from our works towards Warwick. Cyclists on the path had right of way (which has now changed since this incident). The day it opened a cyclist from our place got ran over on it. As he crossed the school entrance a guy in an Audi Estate drove out straight into him. Now it could be said that yes, the path was new to everyone and the guy might not have realised that the path was there and maybe the cyclist should have glanced to see if anything was coming (but even so... it was the cyclists right of way!) but this has really got my goat today.
I saw the guy it happened to. It was about 4 or 5 years ago now, and i haven't seen him much since, but i asked him if he back on the bike and he filled me in on the full story.
Basically, as the car hit him side on, because his legs were either side of the saddle his pelvis stayed put while his spine moved sideways, actually snapping away from his pelvis and then snapping back, like an elastic band. Luckily his spinal chord was not severed but the discs were damaged and they leaked fluid for the next month. The guy was paralysed for a month (said he really thought he was gonna be like that for the rest of his life) due to the leaking discs and then slowly the feeling has returned except for part of one foot 4 or 5 years on. He now has to go to the gym at least 3 times a week or he siezes up and can't get out of bed.
He told me that on the day of the accident, the Audi driver hit him, and the bike went under the car. The Audi driver reversed, got out of his car and picked up the bike, by which time Richard had managed to struggle to his feet, the adrenaline pumping through him not realising how seriously he was hurt. The first thing he did was to look at the bike and, while he did this, the Audi driver got back in his car and drove off! Not even bothering to see to our cyclist who, although was on his feet, was very obviously badly hurt
The cyclist reported it to the police, and he was off work for weeks. Now... how hard can this guy be to trace?... especially when you consider that
(a) The police knew the make of the car (Audi Estate)
(b) The person concerned has children at the local school (they were picking them up)
© It has been confirmed by both the police and the Motor Insurer's Bureau that there are only 150 of these cars in UK! (which means not many in Warwickshire and probably only one connected to the school)
The police told our cyclist that they had contacted all the drivers in the area and they all had an alibi (surprise surprise) and "no" they were not willing to do a line up so that our cyclist could identify them.
The school were no help either, point blank refusing to confirm who the parent was (our cyclist had the distinct impression they knew but either way, they were totally obstrutive even though our cyclist pointed out to them it could have been one of their own children on the cycle path)
I'm shocked that the police have not tried harder, but then it's Warwick Police so why i should be shocked i'm not sure.
A cycle path was built from our works towards Warwick. Cyclists on the path had right of way (which has now changed since this incident). The day it opened a cyclist from our place got ran over on it. As he crossed the school entrance a guy in an Audi Estate drove out straight into him. Now it could be said that yes, the path was new to everyone and the guy might not have realised that the path was there and maybe the cyclist should have glanced to see if anything was coming (but even so... it was the cyclists right of way!) but this has really got my goat today.
I saw the guy it happened to. It was about 4 or 5 years ago now, and i haven't seen him much since, but i asked him if he back on the bike and he filled me in on the full story.
Basically, as the car hit him side on, because his legs were either side of the saddle his pelvis stayed put while his spine moved sideways, actually snapping away from his pelvis and then snapping back, like an elastic band. Luckily his spinal chord was not severed but the discs were damaged and they leaked fluid for the next month. The guy was paralysed for a month (said he really thought he was gonna be like that for the rest of his life) due to the leaking discs and then slowly the feeling has returned except for part of one foot 4 or 5 years on. He now has to go to the gym at least 3 times a week or he siezes up and can't get out of bed.
He told me that on the day of the accident, the Audi driver hit him, and the bike went under the car. The Audi driver reversed, got out of his car and picked up the bike, by which time Richard had managed to struggle to his feet, the adrenaline pumping through him not realising how seriously he was hurt. The first thing he did was to look at the bike and, while he did this, the Audi driver got back in his car and drove off! Not even bothering to see to our cyclist who, although was on his feet, was very obviously badly hurt
The cyclist reported it to the police, and he was off work for weeks. Now... how hard can this guy be to trace?... especially when you consider that
(a) The police knew the make of the car (Audi Estate)
(b) The person concerned has children at the local school (they were picking them up)
© It has been confirmed by both the police and the Motor Insurer's Bureau that there are only 150 of these cars in UK! (which means not many in Warwickshire and probably only one connected to the school)
The police told our cyclist that they had contacted all the drivers in the area and they all had an alibi (surprise surprise) and "no" they were not willing to do a line up so that our cyclist could identify them.
The school were no help either, point blank refusing to confirm who the parent was (our cyclist had the distinct impression they knew but either way, they were totally obstrutive even though our cyclist pointed out to them it could have been one of their own children on the cycle path)
I'm shocked that the police have not tried harder, but then it's Warwick Police so why i should be shocked i'm not sure.